Rebuilding and going green in 2014

FORT IRWIN As 2014 begins, construction workers at Fort Irwin are still repairing major damage from last years flood season.

The Army base was battered by a series of thunderstorms in July and August of 2013, with the most damage coming in the aftermath of an Aug. 25 storm that flooded a significant part of the installation.

Leslie Ozawa, Public Affairs Specialist at Fort Irwin, spoke with Muhammad Bari, director of Fort Irwins public works department, about the damages in a December article on the Armys official website.

During this storm, over 160 buildings got minor to severe damage, Bari said. ... We had leaking roofs, flooded basements and mechanical rooms, carpet damage, wall damage.

The flurry of thunderstorms caused at least three major power outages last summer.

The Aug. 25 monsoon storm caused extensive damage to Lewis Elementary School, with the schools 651 students being forced to relocate to various temporary setups on the base.

Fort Irwin Director of Public Affairs Pamela Portland told the Desert Dispatch that according to several people in the installations public works department, the monsoon brought the most severe rain to the base in more than 30 years.

No injuries or deaths were caused as a result of the flood, according to Portland. Nearly five months later, the repair efforts on the base continue. The repair contracts, valued at more than $40 million, are managed by the Army Corps of Engineers Los Angeles District.

In the days following the flood, all commands on Fort Irwin, its soldiers, family members and civilians, pitched in to restore and resume normal operations, Ozawa said in his Army website article. (W)ork continues on more permanent repairs, as well as on fixes to the posts vulnerability to power outages and storm damage.

Other projects on the base include the 5th Street Project, which began in September. Construction continues at the intersection of 5th Street and South Loop Road, with the aim of installing fixtures that will make it easier for larger trucks to make turns at the intersection.

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Rebuilding and going green in 2014